High-tech Fantasy Game Creates Real-world Friendships

November 29, 1985|By Davin Light of The Sentinel Staff

Not all video games are kid stuff. One of most popular new ones, in fact, seems to be attracting far more adults than youngsters. Maybe that's because few kids can afford to feed a machine an average of $10 worth of quarters every time they play.

Ever since two Gauntlet machines were installed at each of the Fun Machine arcades in the Parkwood and Seminole plazas on Nov. 6, ''they've been played almost continuously,'' said 23-year-old Scott Lanterman, manager of the Parkwood arcade. Gauntlet, manufactured by Atari, ''is probably twice as popular'' as Rush'n Attack, which used to be the arcade's hottest game. ''Once people start playing, they don't want to leave,'' Lanterman said.

Consequently, there are usually lines around the two machines and plenty of willing fingers to manipulate the buttons and joy stick when someone leaves.

Gauntlet is sort of an electronic version of the popular fantasy game Dungeons and Dragons, in which players take on the personas of make-believe medieval warriors with magical powers in a hunt for hidden treasure. Unlike most video games, in which each player competes individually, Gauntlet accommodates up to four players who can work separately or as a team to battle the evil Grunts on several hundred ''levels,'' or mazelike dungeons.

Players can drop out or join in the game at any time; it costs 50 cents to begin play as one of four characters and 25 cents each time to bring a dead character back to life and progress to a new level. Most video games simply cost a quarter for each game.

Steve Kershner, 36, has been a fan of video games for more than eight years, and he said Gauntlet is his new favorite.

On Monday afternoon, Kershner took a break after playing ''a little under four hours. I just dropped $20,'' he said.

Isn't that expensive?

''I don't know what else I could do for four hours for $20.''

Kershner, who works two shifts four times a week delivering pizzas in Orlando, said he usually spends about two hours a day on each of his three free days playing video games. He considers his habit, which costs him about $30 a week, worth the price.

Gauntlet ''is a challenge,'' Kershner said. ''It allows you to put your initials up there on the machine. You can play it by yourself -- I've tried it. But then there's nobody to show off to.''

The game ''fascinates me because you get a whole bunch of different guys and you play together as a team,'' said 18-year-old Curtis Johnson of Orlando. ''It's fun. You can be your own warrior and you don't have to depend on anybody else. But sometimes it helps.''

Johnson, who has been playing Gauntlet since ''the first day it got here,'' said he spends about $20 a day on the game. On Monday, however, he said he spent about $30 in nearly four hours.

Besides entertaining himself, Johnson, a night manager at a fast-food restaurant, makes new friends. After hours of playing together, ''you get to know your teammates,'' he said.

Other players agree that Gauntlet is sort of a high-tech friend-finder.

''People I've played with have come into work,'' Kershner said, ''and we just look at each other and smile and know we have a secret.''